Self-inflicted Hair Loss
Obsessive
complusive disorder - pulling your own hair
If
we literarily pull at our own hair hard enough and often
enough, believe it or not, we will lose our hair. It
is an direct way to go bald.
An
obsessive-complusive disorder (OCD) is a psyciatric
disorder in which a person tries to difuse his or her
obsessive thoughts by repeatedly performing compulsive
tasks. When you repeatedly tug at your hair, you have
a type of OCD called trichotillomania, also
known as "tich" or TTM. It is non-scarring
(non-permanent), so once you stop this action, your
hair should grow back. People with this disorder usually
pull at the hair on the scalp, but they may also oull
hair out from the other parts of the body.
TTM
sufferers
There
are two groups of trichotillomaniacs:
- Those
who intentionally pull out hairs because of an itch
or feeling of pain. Some may get a pleasure from pulling
their hairs.
- Habitual
trichotillomaniacs may not even know that they are
pulling thier hairs.
TTm
is more common among children than adults, often striking
in early adolescence. More women than men are sufferers
of TTM.
How
TTM is treated
If
the patient is a child it is a way to solve the problem
by cutting the hair short or shaving the head so that
there is nothing to pull. Over time, the child's behavior
may change.
For
older children and adults, self-monitoring is a way
for a cure. Awareness is a way to cure this problem.
You make the effort to record everytime that you pull
your hair and the number of hair pulled, so that you
gain a better appreciation of the problem. This could
lead you to seek help from a psychotherapist or another
type of mental health professional. Alternatively you
may seek the help of a medical professional who may
prescribe common drugs such as anti-depressants in the
serotonin re-uptake inhibitors class, or perhaps clomipramine
which is a tricyclic anti-depressant.
Traction
alopecia or prolonged hair pulling
This
applies to people who wear their hair in tight braids,
ponytails and pigtails. It brings the onset of traction
alopecia resulting in them losing hair gradually
due to the prolonged tension on the hair follicles.
The use of tight roller curlers or repeatedly pulling
at the hair when straightening the hair causes traction
alopecia. These activities are obviously more common
among women, especially of African descent.
Traction
alopecia first appears as a patchy area of hair loss
on the periphery of the scalp. Later these areas can
extend further into the scalp and result in large areas
of hair loss. The remedy is to stop the hair pulling
before the hair loss turns permanent but this is usually
easier said than done for many who are creatures of
habit.
Loss
of hair with chemotherapy
Chemothrapy
is the treatment of cancer with powerful drugs that
are meant to kill the cancerous cells. One of the side
effects of this treatment is hair loss. It not only
targets rapidly growing cancerous cells, it also targets
hair follicles. However, some of the newer drugs can
target certain cells but spare the hair.
The
patient undergoing chemotherapy will likely find that
hair in the actively growing phase will fall out. Because
90 percent of one's hair is in this phase of hair growth
cycle in any given time, virtually all hair may fall
out during treatment. Different drugs cause different
hair loss patterns. With paclitaxel (Taxol), the loss
is sudden, while cyclophosphamide (Cytoxil) causes hair
to thin but not fall out all together.
However,
hair usually starts to grow back within 6 to 8 weeks
after stopping treatment. You can accelerate this hair
growth with low
level laser therapy treatment or one of the prescription
drugs like minoxidil.
The
links related to this page on hair loss diseases are:
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